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Updated 5:39 AM on Monday, October 15, 2007

A&M turnaround will depend on road games

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Columnist

Texas A&M's season is headed toward mediocrity unless the Aggies rediscover how to win on the road -Êand does so quickly.

A&M has been outscored by a combined 45 points at Miami (Fla.) and Texas Tech, which is alarming for an experienced team.

The Aggies were 9-4 last season in large part because of their 5-0 regular season record away from Kyle Field, winning four games by five points or less.

A&M was uncanny in crunch time, winning those five games by a combined 23 points. The Aggies wore down the opposition with a powerful ground game, typically dominating the fourth quarter.

This year, poor starts at Miami and Texas Tech have rendered the last quarter meaningless.

Miami had a 31-0 lead over A&M after three quarters. Tech led 21-7, but it seemed worse. A&M hadn't scored since the opening drive and had only 32 yards in the third quarter.

A&M has three road trips left. The first is Saturday at Nebraska, which ironically will be trying to regain its winning home touch.

Nebraska is coming off a 45-14 loss to Oklahoma State. It was the first time the Cowboys had won in Lincoln since 1960, breaking a 20-game losing streak.

What made that more shocking is Oklahoma State had lost 11 of its last 12 road games, including a 24-23 loss a week ago at A&M where it squandered a 17-0 lead.

Nebraska, however, has been struggling since a 52-10 victory over Nevada to open the season. The Cornhuskers have been outscored 86-20 in their last two games.

Nebraska (4-3 overall, 1-2 Big 12) won't get any sympathy from the Aggies, who have remaining road games at fourth-ranked Oklahoma and No. 15 Missouri. This is a must-win game for A&M.

The Aggies can lose all their road games and still go 7-5, but that wasn't what this team envisioned when it reported to fall practice.

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A&M is in a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 South, but the Aggies have the toughest remaining schedule because they've already beaten Baylor, which has yet to play Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

A&M, meanwhile, closes with four ranked teams including No. 15 Kansas and No. 19 Texas at home.

"We've known this, but we just want to get ready one week at a time and do the best we can," said A&M head coach Dennis Franchione, who has been under fire for secret newsletters he e-mailed to a select group of boosters.

Franchione's job status has been the buzz since Thursday, when A&M released the results of its internal investigation, which included reporting NCAA violations and issuing Franchione a letter of admonishment.

A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said the findings would be included in Franchione's season-ending review, which has led many to think Franchione is coaching the last half of the season to keep his job.

"That is of no concern," Franchione said after the Tech game. "All I care about is these players, and these coaches, and this team. I have no concern in this matter, I promise you."

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Television passed on A&M at Nebraska, so it will have a 1:05 p.m. kickoff.

The TV games will be Oklahoma at Iowa State, 11:30 a.m. on FSN, Texas at Baylor at 11:30 a.m. on VERSUS, Texas Tech at Missouri at 2:30 p.m. on ABC, and Kansas at Colorado at 4:45 p.m. on ESPN.

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Switching the A&M-Tech series to Dallas looks better every time the Aggies visit the South Plains.

Tech has won seven straight in Lubbock and has outscored the Aggies by 98 points in the last three games. Overall, Tech has won 10 of the last 13.

One T-shirt Tech fans wore Saturday had "beating Tech" on the front, and the back had "as if A&M needed another tradition."

No other Big 12 opponent or former Southwest Conference foe has a better record against A&M in the last 13 league games. The closest is Texas, which is 9-4 against A&M in the last 13 games.

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A&M place-kicker Matt Szymanski missed two field goals against Tech, making him 10 of 18 for the season.

He's 5 of 13 beyond 30 yards.

A&M special teams coach Mark Tommerdahl said the snap, protection and hold were good Saturday each time, but Szymanski just missed them, even though his rhythm was good. Tommerdahl compared it to hitting a bad golf shot.

"We'll get back and watch the film and we'll find the technical reason for what happened," Tommerdahl said.

A&M was 14 of 20 in field-goal attempts last season. Szymanski was 2 of 5 on all attempts between 30 and 49 yards. Senior Layne Neumann was 12 of 15 with two misses beyond 40 yards.